In this series we’ll take a fresh look at resources and how they are used. We’ll go beyond natural resources like air and water to look at how efficiency in raw materials can boost the bottom line and help the environment. We’ll also examine the circular economy and design for reuse — with an eye toward honoring those resources we do have.

While changes at home can’t solve the many environmental crises we face today, they can sure help. Through this series, we’ll explore how initiatives like curbside compost pick-up, rebates on compost bins, and efficient appliances can help families reduce their impact without breaking the bank.

Despite decades -- centuries even -- of global efforts, slavery can still be found not just on the high seas, but around the world and throughout various supply chains. Through this series on forced labor, sponsored by C&A Foundation, we’ll explore many different types of bonded and forced labor and highlight industries where this practice is alive and well today.

In this series we examine how companies should respond to national controversy like police violence and the BLM movement to best support employees and how can companies work to improve equality by increasing diversity in their ranks directly.

Compost is often considered a panacea for the United States’ tremendous food waste problem. Indeed, composting is a much better option than putting spoiled food in a garbage can destined for a landfill.

Don’t own a car, but want to get out to one of the Bay Area’s hundreds of parks and trails? Or perhaps, you are trying to reduce your carbon footprint and wondering how to get to your favorite hike without using your car?

Transit and Trails is a new resource for outdoor enthusiasts who want to leave their cars behind and easily get information on how to take the bus (or ferry) to reach Bay Area hiking trails and campgrounds.

A project of the Bay Area Open Space Council (BAOSC), the new interactive website identifies hundreds of trailheads and 150 campgrounds to explore across the Bay Area’s 1.2 million acres of preserved lands. Just enter your starting location, and roughly how far you want to venture, and the site suggests possible hikes and featured trips. Once you decide where you want to go, it connects with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s 511 Transit Trip Planner to provide a detailed trip itinerary, complete with a map, transit times, fares and walking directions to and from the transit stop.

BAOSC a collaborative of more than 55 member organizations actively involved in permanently protecting and stewarding important parks, trails and agricultural lands in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. They are committed to connecting people to the land.

According to Bettina Ring, Executive Director of the BAOSC, “Transit and Trails is the first ever trip planner focused on parks and trails…It brings all the needed information to your fingertips so you can easily plan your outing.”

The ROI of Not Driving

The site also calculates the cost of driving to your destination and estimates the pounds of carbon you would save by using public transit, so you can calculate the ROI of leaving the car at home.

Wouldn’t this make a great iphone application?

Transit and Trails makes it easy for you to access all the amazing parks and open spaces in the Bay Area while minimizing costs (save on tolls, gas and parking) and reducing your carbon footprint. Give it a try! Since I live in Marin and can reach many trails from my front door (or if I need to travel, I have the dog along) I have not tried the service yet.

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Deborah Fleischer is founder and president of Green Impact. She is a LEED AP with a Master in Environmental Studies from Yale University and over 20-years of direct experience working on sustainability-related challenges in both the public and private sectors. You can follow her at @GreenImpact.

Deborah Fleischer is founder and president of Green Impact, a strategic sustainability consulting practice that helps companies walk the green talk. She helps companies design and launch new green strategies and programs, as well as communicate about successes. She is a GRI-certified sustainability reporter and LEED AP with a Master in Environmental Studies from Yale University and over 20-years of direct experience working on sustainability-related challenges in both the public and private sectors. She brings deep expertise in sustainability strategy, stakeholder engagement, program development and written communications.Deborah has helped to design and implement numerous successful cross-sector partnerships and new green initiatives, including the California Environmental Dialogue, Curb Your Carbon and the Institute at the Golden Gate.She has helped create lasting alliances among such organizations as Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy with companies such as Disney, Arco, Bank of America and Passport Resorts.You can follow her occasional tweet @GreenImpact or contact her directly at Deborah@greenimpact.com.

Good thing for your dog and you that you live near a trailhead, Deborah, because larger pet dogs – too big to hold – are not allowed on public transit in the Bay Area, except for on MUNI in SF… which means just one line to Marin (76) on Sundays. One dog is allowed on board at a time, too.

In the Canada and the US, large pet dogs are allowed on transit in larger cities like Boston, Calgary, Seattle and Toronto… in addition to MUNI.

Wouldn’t in be nice to allow more of this in the Bay Area? See “Dogs on Board!” at my website and tell me if you want to help.

Yes Nick, thanks for clarifying that… “Transit and Trails” leaves dogs at home — except ones which are small and can be carried in small containers or otherwise snuck on board. Of course, if a hard container is required it makes things more difficult, though I suppose it could be locked to a fence etc. at the stop near a trailhead.

Of course it’s not the fault of BAOSC that all the agencies aside from MUNI make it difficult or impossible to carry pet dogs to the wonderful places described in “Transit and Trails”. But it would be great if dog owners and their supporters encouraged BAOSC’s Transportation Working Group to take this issue… on board.

MUNI can be the literal and programmatic starting point for a new general rule: 1 – Off-peak, a reasonable number of dogs per vehicle (e.g. at least two* on a bus, the same in certain carriages on BART or Caltrain, perhaps a few more on all the ferries, and dogs not in carriers in a portion of a carshare fleet**); 2 – Half-price***/one free dog per any (future) type of pass, as further incentive to not drive; and 3 – Bus drivers/staff always have the right to decline permission to any dog they feel is a threat or a nuisance… all of this tried out in a multi-agency pilot project.

To those who are put off by this, I would like to mention two things: First, that a lot of dog owners are carfree (and not just by choice). Second, when someone selflessly adopts a dog from a shelter, it’s a drag if from then on they feel they need to – or have to – drive in order to go places with their new family member.

* Not just one per owner because some people have two dogs ** Autoshare in Toronto allows dogs not in containers in 80% of its fleet. *** On MUNI, one has to pay the same price for a dog which they pay for themselves.